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diana_raquel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
"I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you."
[Disclaimer: Shortly after finishing Cinder I discover that this series is considered to be a problematic series. According to some people, The Lunar Chronicles series has an offensive Pan-Asian setting that homogenizes Asia and evokes Japanese imperialism and Marissa Meyer uses honorifics in the wrong way. I think these are valid concerns, but I'm not gonna further my opinion on the matter. Look, I'm a white European girl, I'm not the right person to talk about this issue].
Well, that was disappointing. Like I said in my review of Cinder when I started this series I wasn't expecting much out of it. But then, I loved Cinder. So I was excited to start this book. The Little Red Riding Hood is one of my favorite fairytales and I usually like its retellings. However, this one was disappointing.
The story can be interesting, but I hated Scarlet. We just see her concerned about her grandmother and Wolf. So we don't get to know her as a heroine. And because we don't get to know her, she became too irritating and tedious. I think that the narrative tried to show Scarlet as a reckless heroine but didn't deliver it. Every time I was reading her POV I was rolling my eyes. I found Scarlet to be irritating, tedious, and, sometimes, cringy. And although I liked Wolf, he's not sufficient to make me like their storyline.
The only thing I actually liked in this book was the storyline of Cinder and Kai. Their storyline is much more interesting and Cinder is the true heroine of this book (look, it may be Scarlet's story, but the real badass was Cinder). And Thorne is my new favorite character. I hope to see more of him in Cress. Their storyline is the only thing that prevents me from giving an even lower rating.
I'm pretty sure that this book suffers from "second book syndrome", and the only thing that kept me from DNF'ing was my reading buddies. None of us liked this book, and if it weren't for them, I don't know how I even would finish.
I hope that Cress is better.
"It would be easy to abuse a person when they never recognized it as abuse."
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content and Death of parent
k_galloway's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
sarahaf712's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Vomit
bren_ballet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore and War
risten's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Gun violence, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, and Alcohol
zoepagereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Vomit
maria_pell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Hate crime, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death and Vomit
sporemiette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
carysbeesbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Sexual violence
comopanini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
5 stars
This book is amazing! If the quality of the last two books will at least be on par with the first two, or even better, then this series will definitely be one of my all-time favorites. Marissa Meyer is just such a wonderful storyteller. She makes you not want to put down her book because it's that gripping, and even if you do, you won't stop thinking about it--personal experience here.
Unlike Cinder, with its dual (Cinder's and Kai's) POV, Scarlet is told from different perspectives: Scarlet's, Wolf's, Cinder's, Kai's, Thorne's, and even Queen Levana's. I think this is a great strategy because it widens the scope of the story and you see how everything comes together through these different characters. If this had been told only in Scarlet's perspective, I think I wouldn't have liked this book as much as I actually did. It's not that I don't like her per se but that she was so focused on finding her grandmother that it left little space for me to really see through her personality.
The characterization is just spectacular. I witnessed Cinder develop well and grow stronger as a character without leaving behind her witty remarks and kick-ass personality. I am in awe with how Kai proved himself to be a competent leader, with all his passion and ever-present flaws. Queen Levana is even more evil and bitchy here--no surprise there. And Iko is, what can I say, sassier than ever, the ultimate fan girl.
And the new characters are incredible. Scarlet is fierce, stubborn, and determined. She has her moments of recklessness but then, don't we all?
And Thorne.
This guy's downright hilarious! He eases tension really well and gives such great comic relief, I can't even. He is completely narcissistic, and for some reason, he reminds me of Flynn Rider from Tangled.
Oh and I immensely enjoy his banters with Cinder. They'd be great best friends.
"A relieved grin filled up Thorne’s face. "We’re having another moment, aren’t we?"
"If by a moment, you mean me not wanting to strangle you for the first time since we met, then I guess we are."
I absolutely enjoyed Scarlet, just like I enjoyed Cinder. I'm also glad that Meyer chose France as a new setting instead of just staying in New Beijing because it makes this intergalactic war thing more real, you know? That the whole world is actually involved in this, and not just a single country, against the Lunars.
How Marissa Meyer crafted such well-thought sci-fi fairy tale retellings and wonderfully weaved each story to make an epic story arc is beyond me but I'm awfully glad she did. Now I know why a lot of people rave about and love this series. It's just so good! And, uh, I haven't read Cress--which I hope I'll be getting into next week--but, wow, even the short stories are amazing.
I'm sooooo glad I waited this out for so long because now I don't have to wait a long time for Winter to be released!!! I can't wait aghhhhh
Second read [Dec 6-8, 2021]
4.5 stars
I know the romance isn't central to these books, but I just want to say that I definitely like ScarletWolf better than CinderKai this time around.
Minor: Gore and Injury/Injury detail